Future Me?

In the first unit of the course Endurance, we studied a hero's journey and a dream that Morpheus gives us. We learned each step of a hero’s journey, the most common are ordinary life, call to action, refusal of call, mentor, crossing the threshold, tests, rebirth, road back and return. For an FE, we went to a dojo where the martial arts are sacred. We started of easy in a park, on our way back we did different exercises and when we got to the dojo we did intense exercise. Everyone was so tired and exhausted. The purpose of this FE is to endure the exercise. We all did, but the days to come was so much pain, we were so sore especially our legs. For our action project, we had to write an autobiography in the future. Writing about our call to action and experiences that made us to where we got in the future. I chose to see myself as a successful hostess because I am going to study communications in college. During this project I struggled with coming up with a convincing story of my future. I learned how to make a digital cover. To know more about how I plan my future check out my autobiography below.

KIS, Autobiography Bookcover. 2017.

It all started when I was in my teens. I was introduced to the world of communication by a lady who owns a radio internet station. I was invited to a show she produces in her station. I was invited because I was in many beauty pageants and they wanted to know how I stay healthy in that type of environment and how I felt participating in them. I was honored to be interviewed. As soon as I entered the building I met up with her and she gave me a tour of the building and I was so impressed. At that time I was exploring what I wanted to do in college and for the rest of my life. I was so frustrated and confused because I didn’t know what to do and nothing medical or engineering called my attention. I was really worried to go to college and not know what my career is. That’s when I got my call to action. I was called to choose communication as my career.

I stayed in touch with her and about 2 years later I had my own show. My theme was quinceaneras and sweet 16 because it connects to my culture and I want to embrace it. My show was meant to help girls plan their 15 and 16 party. I had an hour show every Sunday and I hosted with two other girls. We came up with the content, reached out to services to get a deal to provide it exclusively on our show and we had a phone that our audience can call and talk to us. We had many guest from people providing services, to mom and daughter sharing their experience of their party to young girls sharing their vision for their party and helping them plan it. We had the show for 1 year and a half. We had to end it because of money and time. I was sad, but that gave me the opportunity to take public speech classes with the lady. She has been in the communication area for more than 20 years, so getting classes from her, getting her tips, observing how she talks and the rules of this area really got me hooked. That helped me get ready for my future show or shows that I will be hosting.

For my interest to Communication, I went to Columbia College. I decided to attend this school because I am a City girl. I was born in Chicago and raised there too. Knowing I wanted to stay in the city, a city I know and an engaging place. I knew Columbia would be a better fit for me than my other school options. A challenge I had right away was public transportation. My mom would take me to where I needed to be, so I didn’t take public transportation that often. Going to Columbia and growing up I had to stop relying on my mom and become independent. Having a car in downtown is really expensive so taking public transportation was way cheaper. I had to learn the north and southbound, where color lines take me and what buses drops me off closest to my school. At school I collaborated with so many people. Students, teachers and people outside of school. Without knowing it I was building my network. I was exposed to so many ideas, places and people that made me be more creative, innovative and more open minded. My mom says “ dedication, patients,studios, perseverance and technology” are my strengths. I focused on my strengths and rely on them to keep going. Another thing that help me in this journey is having a friend from elementary school going into communications too. With her I hosted my radio internet show and when we struggled we would help each other out. During college I had many breakdowns and was really stressed out. I would have many project and I would have many overlapping events. I would get bad headaches and not that much sleep. I was like this for a while and unfortunately let many people down. When I recovered I promised myself that I wouldn’t get more than I can chew. I didn’t say yes to every opportunity and scheduled everything so no overlapping would happen and that I won’t let anyone down.

After College I had some job offers. It looked like my network effort worked a little. Somewhere more interesting than others. I started working for a radio station, it was good, not so stressful, I had my time slot for my show and I stayed there for 3 years. I decided to leave the radio station because it wasn’t making me happy anymore. I then went on a job hunt and didn’t find anything that I thought I can do for more than 3 years and that gave me good salary. I had no job for a little while and I was starting to get worried. Then a friend of mine from college called me and asked if I was interested in working on television in California because they are looking for a qualified person. I got so excited and immediately said yes. After the call ended I then realized that I will be living Chicago, my home, my family and my friends. I thought about calling back and change my mind, but then I need the job and it was precisely what I was looking for. Although I didn’t want to I had to leave Chicago to continue my career. It was really sad, but my family understand that I needed to go.

In California things were obviously different. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I met up with my friend and gave me a tour of the city and television place. The next day I went straight to work. I was hosting an entertainment show. I talked about what going on in artist lives, fashion and events. It was all good and I was happy. A lot of research was required especially when the show expanded. Everything was going good and the show had 3 successful years. Until a girl who came from another television chain started talking about me to the director, producers and then moved on to the tabloids. She was ruining my career and my hard work. I didn’t know she was doing that until months later when I didn’t have trust from the people I work with. I then realized that she did that to get me kicked out and for her to have my spot since the show was at it’s top at that time. I was so mad at her and at the people who I worked for years to believe that. I kept working for couple weeks until I couldn’t work anymore because it was destroying me and I wasn’t happy anymore. Without hesitation I quit before getting fired. I wasn’t think straight because once again I didn’t have a job. It was really hard to find a job again because of the damage the girl did and I was right, when I left she immediately took my spot.

Without a job I was living off my saving and many time I thought about going home and giving up., but I didn’t want to come home a failure so I stayed. Months passed and I still didn’t have a job, but the good thing was that whatever the girl said was blowing off. I also went to some interviews to talk about the rumors, how I dealt with it and hoped that speed up availabilities of jobs for me. It did and I applied to be a host for a music entertainment show. Something different from my last job, but it was something I was really interested. Showing the good things i've done on my resume, I got the job a week later. Once I got there I saw so many artist there. I was shocked and amazed. I met the producer and told me what I the topic is. I tried to stay as professional as I could and I interviewed some artist. Thanks to that show I am very happy, I am friends with many artist and I have a stable job. This year I make 7 years in this program and I have hosted the at the emmy’s and I have gotten 2 of them. This industry has it’s ups and downs, but I am glad to have a strong relationship with the other workers and I have inspiring friends.

How Magic Comes To Life

In the second unit of the course Stage Chemistry, we learned about trap doors, the different types, which one is better to use for different situations and we learned about stage decks. We went to Steppenwolf Theater for an FE. There, we learned more about what it takes to make the decks, the safety protocols that have to placed, lighting and different stages. For our action project, we had to chose two motions that happens in the play Aladdin. I chose to do the flying carpet and the cave of wonders. I made a model of my stage and made the motions will work on stage. I made my model from my blueprint. During this project, I had a hard time creating my motions because they are small and making them work was a little challenging too. In this project, I learned how to make a scale model and learned how to be cautions when having traps doors or flying object. I am proud of how my flying carpet turned about because I struggled the most with that, but it looks good and it moves. To know more about how built my stage check out my project below.

KIS. Stage. 2017.

Flying Carpet:
The carpet will be hung from the top with strings and it will be movable. There will be a pulley system that will move the carpet side to side and up to down. The carpet will only be use in the flying scenes and an actor will take the character of the carpet.
There is a rolling car on top of the stage that will hold the carpet with strings. The strings will be attach to pole on top and to the carpet. When the car moves forward, the carpet will move with it like if they are flying straight. I drew the strings that are holding the carpet by hand with a 3D drawing pen called a 3Doodler. I couldn’t find small poles so I did the top system of cardboard symbolizing the metal that will actually hold the weight of the actors. The carpet will just go back and forth. Making all of this motion happen took me about 3 or 4 hours because I would mess up in the measurement and I would have to start all over.

Here are some safety protocols our crew follows to be safe:

• Watch heads when the carpet is flying. 
• Grab onto the edges of carpet when flying.
• Only two people on it at a time.
• Careful with pole on stage.
• Keep balance on carpet so it won’t tilt.

KIS. Flying Carpet Gif. 2017.

KIS. Safety sign for carpet. 2017

Cave of Wonders:
The cave will be beside the stage because it’s used in the beginning. It will be rolled in when needed. The cave is medium size so that an actor can go in the mouth of the tiger. It will be placed in the side of the stage so it can go directly to the scene of Aladdin in the cave.
The cave is thin so it can go directly to a scene inside the mouth. The cave will be on wheels so that it can move easily. I printed a picture of the head of the tiger and a cut a cardboard around it so it can be stable. The head of the tiger is placed on top of a small deck so that it moves across the stage easily and it won't take up that much space.

Here are some things our crew do to keep themselves safe:

• Watch feet when rolling.
• Careful when navigating it on stage.
• Careful when walking through it.

KIS. Rolling Tiger Head Gif. 2017.

KIS. Safety sign for rolling cave. 2017.

Calculations:

KIS. Force Diagram. 2017.

In order to find how much work is put into moving this cave I used the equation: W=FxD. Before I could find out work I had to first find out how many newtons there is and find my distance. For that I did 15x4.44822 = 66.7233N. I multiplied it by 4.44822 because 1lbs = 4.44822N. Then to find the distance I did 3x12ft/4=36/4=9ft/3=3m. Once I had my Newtons and Distance I went back to the equation and put in the numbers, 66.7233Nx3m=200.1699J.

A Whole New Theater

In the first unit of the course Stage Chemistry, we studied stage productions, stages blueprints, how to set up a theater and we blueprinted our school. In doing blueprints, we learned how to take measurement, how to convert inches into feet and how to scale real life measurements to paper blueprints. For our action project, we had to chose a place where we would like to hold a play. We would have to transform the place into a theater. I chose to transform a room in our school for the play Aladdin. I chose it because it has many things that I need for the audience and for the actors. I had to measure the length and width of the room along with other rooms that I used. The other rooms where amenities for my theater. During this project, I had difficulties measuring the rooms and converting them to feet. I also struggles with finding ways to satisfy the actors and audience when creating the environment for the rooms. In this project I learned how much work goes into a stage production, how calculating the measurements is really important and how you have to think of the actors, audience and how you want to play to turn out. Overall the project was a little stressful, but I liked how I challenged myself to do more rooms then put everything in one and doing all the calculation. To know more about my project, check it out below. Hope it give you an idea when planning a play and making your stage.

I chose a room called OC because it's a big room and I was able to imagine my stage in that room. OC gave me space to have a stage that is big enough for the actors and I have plenty of seats, that is what I wanted. In the process of planning the seating, stage and how it will all work in opening night. I was thinking about the audience and actors all the time. I wanted to give the actors a space for themselves and I wanted them to feel special by having two room for them. I also wanted to audience to feel comfortable by having a lobby for them, restrooms available for them and providing a variety of snacks for them. Although having different rooms for these things I had to measure the rooms to scale it to paper, which was work than I had to do and was challenging, but I was able to do it with help from my peers and teacher. Creating the blueprints took more time than I thought because I kept messing up in the scaling and placing things where I want them to be. I also took a while to thin of good logic statements because I didn't want to write something obvious. I struggle a little in this project, but I liked how I challenged myself with more rooms even if in that time it was hard and I was able to go through with it. I like the final product of my blueprints and my cover page.

JV. OC. 2017.

Comparing my theater to Goodman Theater:

Insight On GCE

In the third unit of the course System and Models, we studied Commons, I-O Psychology, Six Sigma, Total Quality, how to evaluate companies and groups. We watched a motivation video demonstrating mastery, purpose and accountability. We watched another video about incentives, how people work more for certain things and how people incentives change over time. For our FE’s we talked to Jessica Tondreau and Eric Davis. Jessica is GCE’s counselor and Eric is the founder of GCE. We talked to them because they know how the school function, what is the purpose of a different learning style that we have and what the school is meant to be. For our action project, we had to look at a system in the school and break it down using an evaluation called SWOT. I chose to look at equipment because it’s a topic we are facing right now, where there is no respect for it. Along with choosing a system we had to relate it to Business Trends, Commons, Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, System Thinking and I-O Psychology. We also had to conduct interviews and come up with a solution. During this project I had difficulty with getting interviews from students and I had a little trouble connecting everything to my topic. In this project I learned how to look at different aspect of a problem and how to come up with a productive and satisfying solution. To know more about the cool equipment that we have at GCE and that students can use, check out my prezi below. Hope you enjoy it!

For The Future

In the second unit of the course Equality, we studied race, class and gender. We looked at the issues that we are having currently with our president and how he is encouraging racism. It’s like he gave people permission to be racist and treat people badly in public. We also saw videos of people testing racism. How kids are influenced from their parents, media and their environment to think light skin means good and black skin means bad. We also saw a video of a black guy and white guy who dress the same and acts the same. The video shows the two guys doing the same things like looking to buy a house, getting a job, going to the hospital and we see how people treat the black guy different because of his skin color that associated him to a low class. The video also showed facts of how a black guy is more likely to get pulled over than a white guy and the rate of black person going to jail is way higher than a white person. For our action project, we had to write an article based on gender, race or class. We also had to do a toy with an advertisement, a policy and a letter to the editor from a different person's point of view. I chose the topic race and I went with a music theme. I created a toy where you can make music with it and one can change instruments by switching a card. All of this is meant to go in a time capsule and for people of the future to know and read how thing were in 2017. If interested check out my project below. Enjoy!

KIS. Making Music Advertisement. 2017.

Revolutionary Musicians!

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By: KIS                                                                                    February 18, 2017.

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Who knew that music influence our emotions, thoughts and ideas. Best friends Savannah and Ace write music with many messages. They can’t be categorized into one type of music, they play different music according to their message. Their message varies from issues, politics, empowerment, inspiration, motivation, etc.

Savannah was born in Chicago and her parents are Mexican. Ace was born in New York and his parents are Danish. They come from different backgrounds, but they both believe in bringing awareness to people and helping America become more accepting of different races.

“DJ Digital Technology Sequencer Music Samples.” Max Pixel. Image. Web. February 22, 2017.

Since they were little both have been surrounded by music and they both enjoy it. They met in their teens online through a mutual friend. They were both hesitant talking through the internet with no contact, but once they started talking they realized they had things in common, but overall  they have a passion for music. Both wanted to influence others and become famous. Instead of having the competitive instinct they decided to help each other. For years they talked through the internet and shared ideas with each other that will benefit one of them or both.

Once they finished college and becoming an expert in the music business and mastering other instruments. They realized that they wanted the same thing in life and they decided to become a duo and face the world together.

They started with simple messages for the lyrics and a slow music to get a feel of how it will work out and how people will react to it. After many trial and error they got the result they wanted. They started going deep into the music and brought awareness.

Savannah’s and Ace’s music has been the encouragement for people to speak up, find their voice and fight for what is right. People love their music because of the different styles that people like. People can choose what they want to hear if it’s political or inspirational and if they want something fast, medium or slow.

Policy

Discrimination shall not be encouraged and therefore no one should treat another race differently, especially businesses. Everyone should be and feel welcomed.

Dear Editor:

I am so happy that someone shined the light on this amazing duo. They have been in the shadows for a while and they should proud of their music. Their music connects to any age and they should know that their music inspire so many people. They are role models to follow.

Some people will say their music is bad, they don’t have a solid style and they are all over the place with no focus. People also think they aren’t talented and that they shouldn’t continue their music careers,  others will say they are ok.

I say the opposite and I love how they approach issues and make the music around the message so that it goes along and helps the message get through. I would say that Savannah’s and Ace’s focus is important conflicts, inspiration and issues that go on in the world and wake us up from the coma we are living in. Everyone's so focused on their lives and the things they do that they don’t pay attention to other problems that could affect them or others. For the reason that people are so busy with their lives, they don’t give their opinions, don’t stand up for others, don’t vote for important things and they don’t notice when their rights are being violated.

I really like how Savannah and Ace started to make an impact on the world with a popular and pleasing art form. I also like how they both knew how they wanted to make a change in the world since they were little, they stayed true to themselves and they made their dreams come true. They deserve to be recognized for everything they do and to stay true to what they believe in.

Thank you for writing this article,
SR

S.M

Individuals Have An Impact

In the second unit of the course System and Models we studied, groups of people, what brings them together, what breaks them up and their behaviors. We came up with trust exercises to test how good do we know each other. My classmates got creative and made test based on background, what would you take to an island, two truths and a lie and building things together. We had an FE to Mariano’s where we did a quick sample test of what our project would be. We each chose a food bars that are popular, we sat somewhere close and observed who would buy something, just looks and what gender they were. At the end the data showed that people would buy and approach the hot food bar more. For our action project we conducted a research study on a topic that interests us. I chose double parking because it’s something I see a lot and I don’t think it’s fair. Especially double parking on a street that is busy, that has residential zones and that have many business. During this project I had difficulties with being on time to record the data because I would come home just on time or I would have to go outside without a jacket to get data. I learned that not many cars double park, but it does have a big impact on the people in their neighborhood. If you want to know more about my finding on my double parking study, check it out below. Hope it’s informative and interesting. Thank you.

People's Favorite President

In the first unit of the course Equality, we studied, race, gender, class and other ways our society or world isn’t equal. We looked at many video of how all of this segregation has impacted our lives, how it changed society and how made people have certain views. We also saw a movie about racism that shows how one can be racist to their own race by comparing skin tones, color eyes, color hair and things like that. We had a guest speaker, Elizabeth Dozier, where she talked about making an impact on lower income students lives and how our educational system sets us up to fail. For our action project, we made a textbook look alike chapter based on a historical event. I chose the election of Barack Obama, 2008-2016 because it is something that impact my family and many of my friends were sad when he left the presidency. During this project I had difficulties with balancing creativity with formal because my topic is political and I didn’t want to choose a color or font that doesn’t go according to it. I learned how to create and issuu and I am proud of my work. To know more about the election check out my project below, hope it’s informative.